TGMNDIAR - 5
When the neighbor came to visit, according to etiquette, Xu Mu should invite the other party into his home for a sit-down.
"Cough, the cookies are very tasty, would you like to come in for some tea?" Xu Mu extended the invitation.
Bai Nian's eyes also flickered, "Do you like desserts?"
Xu Mu didn't think too much and followed the conversation, "Yes."
Bai Nian also smiled, "I usually like making desserts, but there are few people at home, sometimes I make a large quantity at once, it's not easy to store, I hope I can share it with you."
This was obviously a polite remark. With the current development of technology, there's nothing that can't be stored.
Xu Mu felt a little embarrassed but was tempted by the desserts.
"No, I should be thanking you," Xu Mu said frankly, "The cookies are delicious, I really like them."
His gaze shifted to the boy, "I often see him downstairs, playing ball with a guardian robot. What's his name?"
Bai Nian also replied, "Ye Ye, Ye Huohua."
"Ye Ye..." Xu Mu repeated, smiling, "Hi, Ye Ye."
Ye Ye clenched his little hand and softly responded, "Hmm."
Bai Nian also patted Ye Ye's head.
"Mr. Bai and Ye Ye, please come in and have a seat." Xu Mu turned to the side and gestured with his hand.
Ding ding—suddenly, two notification sounds rang out.
Originally standing quietly, Ye Ye anxiously tugged at Bai Nian, "Dad, cartoons lie..." He spoke hurriedly, with the last word distorted.
Bai Nian lifted Ye Ye up, apologizing, "Maybe next time, Ye Ye's cartoon is starting."
Xu Mu said, "Alright, it's okay."
Bai Nian raised Ye Ye's little hand, "Come on, Ye Ye, say goodbye to your brother."
"Bye bye bye bye, Dad..." Ye Ye mumbled.
Xu Mu: "..." Well, as long as he doesn't turn out to be a scoundrel, it's fine.
"Okay, bye bye."
As the door closed, Xu Mu let out a sigh of relief.
"Crimson Earth" reminds you that the Deep Rock Glacier mission has started~
Xu Mu scratched his head and returned to his room. The box of cookies, packed to the brim, was placed next to the miniature game controller.
He put on the real-time navigation ring and logged into his game account. A hawk's cry sounded, and a huge screen floated in mid-air, displaying a colorful game login interface with dynamic anthropomorphic game characters jumping out.
Bedat, with sleek black hair, landed gracefully, made a standard striking gesture, spun around, held a mechanical cannon, bounced, leaned back, and made a "biubiubiubiu" sound effect, exploding yellow fireworks.
Xu Mu's expression turned cold as he connected to the internal network of the Muw Association, found the job number he received today, and contacted the client for communication.
[Xu: Hello, are you online?]
[Anonymous: Give me a few minutes.]
[Xu: Okay.]
One minute later, the page displayed that the deposit had been paid.
Xu Mu twisted open the cap of the nutrient solution and drank half a bottle, feeling a bit bloated.
—It felt like the cookies in his stomach were swelling up.
Thinking this, Xu Mu took another cookie and ate it.
The taste is really good. He squinted with satisfaction, finding the dessert much tastier than the expensive and small portioned dessert from the last takeout.
Ding dong.
Xu Mu glanced at the message and then opened the game, entering the game according to the area code provided by the client.
The client was already waiting for him.
[KKKK: Ready to go?]
[Xu: Yes]
Xu Mu's accompanying play service mainly focused on clearing levels with clients and didn't involve chatting much. Therefore, each job didn't take too long.
In about three hours, Xu Mu could complete at least three jobs, and if he sped up, he could even handle four.
[Xu: I'm done here.]
[Anonymous: Alright, well done. You're fast. I'll give you a good review on Muw later.]
[Xu: Okay, thank you, boss.]
As the time neared, Xu Mu logged out of the game directly, feeling a release in his back as he leaned back in his chair.
So tired.
His eyes unfocused, and his blurry vision settled on the golden cookies.
He reached out to grab one, when Nades spoke up.
"Dear master, you have consumed an excessive amount of sugar today."
Xu Mu raised an eyebrow, feigning ignorance. "What?"
Then, with swift movements, he snatched a cookie, leaving a blur behind. With a few crunching sounds, the remnants of the cookie were already in his mouth.
Nades seemed to sigh. "Well, master, occasional indulgence is okay, but please remember, you're still young and exercising."
Xu Mu looked up at the ceiling.
"Do you want to have lunch?"
Xu Mu glanced at the time. "I'll just have the nutrient solution for now. I have to study later."
"Okay. What would you like for dinner?"
Xu Mu wasn't picky. "Anything is fine."
"Nades won't disturb your studies anymore."
Xu Mu waved his hand, casually sending the robot away.
Establishing contact with the new neighbor was like adding ripples to a calm lake, not bad at all.
Xu Mu didn't interact with Bai Nian much, but in the afternoons, he often received endless boxes of sweets and juice from him.
In reciprocation, Xu Mu also gave back, such as sending some toys for Ye Ye to play with.
—The classic social etiquette, returning favors to children for their parents' kindness.
Bai Nian always expressed his gratitude warmly and brought Ye Ye over to say thank you to him.
Ye Ye innocently blinked his eyes and still used the old name.(dad)
Xu Mu asked, "Is it a habit for him to call me that, or just something he says a lot?"
"I don't know what it is. He calls everyone that when he sees them," Bai Nian replied helplessly.
Through their time together, Xu Mu had progressed from just being neighbors with Bai Nian to being on familiar terms, even calling him "Brother Nian".
Bai Nian was about ten years older than him and had a child. However, the child's "mother" was nowhere to be seen, and when mentioned, Bai Nian would vaguely brush over the topic.
From this, Xu Mu deduced that Bai Nian was a single parent, living alone with his child.
Must be quite tough.
He comes and goes early and late, yet having to take care of a child at home.
"Over here..." Ye Ye tugged on Xu Mu's sleeve, mumbling, "Daddy, this way."
Xu Mu snapped back to attention. "Alright, the ball fell, right? Let me help you get it."
The ball was stuck on a sign in the greenbelt. It was just a matter of bending down for an adult, but for a child, it might as well have been a towering mountain.
"Here, the ball."
Ye Ye smiled happily. "Thank you."
Xu Mu also smiled and pinched his cheek. He was very well-behaved and adorable.
Ye Ye didn't struggle and just kept smiling at Xu Mu, his gap-toothed smile reminiscent of cartoon characters.
"Keep playing," he said to Xu Mu.
Xu Mu naturally agreed.
This wasn't the first time. Initially, it was because he had to go to the supermarket to buy things and happened to run into Ye Ye playing downstairs with his robot companion, Kaduo, while a group of other children of the same age played nearby.
Though they were not far apart, from a distance, it seemed like they kept to their own spaces.
Ye Ye played with his ball, lonely. His thin arms lacked strength, and his short legs couldn't exert much force, causing the ball to wobble and eventually spin in place.
But he didn't give up. He would let go of the ball, kick it, and then play by himself again.
In this small area, he was the only one moving around.
In that moment, Xu Mu felt a pang of pity for Ye Ye, prompting him to approach and strike up a conversation, to accompany and play with him.
With the first encounter came a second, and eventually, it became a regular occurrence.
Every afternoon, Ye Ye would knock on his door right on time, with his big watery eyes, asking to play together.
Xu Mu and Ye Ye had a standoff for a while, but eventually, Xu Mu relented, setting aside half an hour each day to play ball with him.
—After all, Ye Ye seemed so lonely playing by himself, and it was heart-wrenching to see.
But later, Xu Mu realized he had misunderstood.
"Ye Ye, do you want to play with the other kids?" One time, Xu Mu saw Ye Ye staring fixedly at the kids on skateboards and mistakenly thought he wanted to play with children his own age.
He was ready to help Ye Ye integrate into that circle.
Ye Ye looked up, his tone unchanged from usual. "I don't want to..."
"If you want to—" Xu Mu paused. "You don't want to?"
Ye Ye lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes brushing against his eyelids. His speech for a three-year-old was often unclear, especially when it came to certain sounds involving the tongue, they tended to come out muddled.
It took Xu Mu several tries to understand what Ye Ye was saying.
"Noisy."
Xu Mu was stunned, feeling as if he had just witnessed a little lamb turning into Godzilla.
"Ball, throw!" Ye Ye bent down to push the ball, then picked it up and raised it above his head. "Throw!"
Xu Mu was dazed. It turned out that all the loneliness he had perceived was just an illusion.
In fact, Ye Ye's mental state had already surpassed Xu Mu's expectations, reaching a level akin to "Invincible Seeking Defeat".
...
"Are you coming with me today?" Xu Mu was surprised. "Not playing ball anymore?"
Ye Ye nodded, then shook his head. "Going, not playing."
"Do you want to come to my place?" Xu Mu asked.
"Yeah." Ye Ye paused, then said, "Can... okay? Bye, bye... work."
Xu Mu understood—
Is it possible, please?
He immediately responded, "Of course."
Ye Ye reached out to hold Xu Mu's hand, and Xu Mu carefully reciprocated the gesture.
He said, "But first, I need to talk to your dad."
He knew Kado had a way to contact Bai Nian, so he said, "Kaduo, can you ask Brother Nian if I can bring Ye Ye to my house to play?"
After a few minutes, Xu Mu received the approval from the other side.
It was a voice message.
"You can, thank you for your hard work, Ah Mu."
The man's voice was gentle, with a calm tone, transmitted through the robot's audio equipment, giving a distorted feeling as if it was covered in an electric current.
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Mu replied, "No, Ye Ye is very cute."
…
At home.
"Ye Ye, is there anything you'd like to eat?" There weren't many snacks at Xu Mu's place suitable for children, except for the desserts Bai Nian had given him yesterday. But it would be a bit odd to give him his dad's homemade pastries to eat.
Ye Ye sat up straight, hugging a teddy bear obediently. "Nothing."
He was very polite, hardly moving his head, only his round eyes darting around.
"Well, what would you like to play with?"
Ye Ye: "Nothing."
Xu Mu felt a headache coming on. He didn't know how to entertain the child; he couldn't just let him sit there idle.
Let him play video games?
No, that wouldn't work. He's too young to play video games.
"How about playing with toy trains?" Xu Mu remembered the toy trains he hadn't given away. The packaging was damaged when he bought them, so they were suitable for personal use but not for gifts.
Ye Ye: "No."
Xu Mu deliberately brought the actual toy over. "It's this kind of train."
Ye Ye: "Don't want."
Well, Xu Mu was at a loss. He could only sit with Ye Ye in the living room.
Since Ye Ye wasn't making a fuss, Xu Mu decided to bring out his study materials and notebooks.
As he prepared to leave, he was stopped by Ye Ye's little hand. It wasn't really a stop, as his arms were too short; he was just holding onto Xu Mu's clothes.
"Don't go," Ye Ye said.
Xu Mu patiently replied, "I'll be back soon."
"Sit," Ye Ye insisted stubbornly.
Xu Mu understood what Ye Ye meant. He probably didn't want him to leave and wanted him to stay in place.
He bent down, hugged Ye Ye, and used a soothing tone to say, "I'll be back soon, okay?"
Ye Ye looked up, staring at Xu Mu for a few seconds before responding with a soft "Hmm." His chubby cheeks jiggled slightly, showing some weight that made Xu Mu unable to resist pinching.
He thought Ye Ye looked a bit like a bunny, with his chubby cheeks.
Xu Mu moved his study spot to the living room, with Ye Ye sitting quietly beside him, not making a sound or disturbing Xu Mu.
Instead, it was Xu Mu who couldn't focus, always asking Ye Ye if he was bored or if he wanted some water.
Each time, he received a negative answer.
And so, Xu Mu buried himself in his studies while Ye Ye quietly watched beside him, not making a fuss or causing any disturbance.
It seemed like Ye Ye didn't need adults to do anything specific with him or play any particular games; he just needed someone to be there with him.
At first, Xu Mu wasn't used to Ye Ye's gaze. After all, having a living person sitting there, regardless of age, just staring at you without moving, felt like being scrutinized. But eventually, he got used to it and could ignore it, focusing on his studies.
As the sunset faded and night approached, Xu Mu emerged from his world of books to the sound of the doorbell.
Nades asked, "Master, would you like to answer the door, or should I do it for you?"
Since it wasn't far, Xu Mu went to the door himself.
Opening it, he found Bai Nian standing there.
"Brother Nian," Xu Mu welcomed him in.
Bai Nian had just finished work, dressed in a sleek black suit that accentuated his tall, slender figure. He had tidied up his hair, but there was still a hint of fatigue in his eyes.
Nevertheless, he perked up and spoke warmly, "I hope I'm not bothering you. Did Ye Ye give you any trouble?"
Xu Mu smiled, "Ye Ye is very well-behaved."
Seeing Bai Nian taking off his shoes, Xu Mu immediately said, "You don't need to. Just come in."
Bai Nian hesitated, "Won't I dirty the floor? Maybe I should change into slippers."
Xu Mu felt awkward. "I don't have slippers at home."
His words sounded like he was chasing away a guest. He quickly added, "So there's no need to change. Just come in."
Bai Nian was taken aback. "Um... Can I walk in wearing socks then?"
He noticed that there was a carpet in Xu Mu's home.
Xu Mu's heart tightened, but he didn't hesitate to say, "Of course."
"Daddy—" Ye Ye crawled out from under the sofa and made his way over, bumping into things along the way.
Bai Nian embraced him and said softly, "Were you good at Brother's house?"
Ye Ye leaned against him affectionately. "Good."
Bai Nian praised him, and Ye Ye squirmed happily.
"Ah Mu, have you eaten?" Bai Nian asked.
Xu Mu replied honestly, "Not yet."
"Would you like to come to my place for dinner?" Bai Nian offered.
Xu Mu hesitated for a moment and then said, "How about Brother Nian coming to my place for dinner?"
After all, it was Bai Nian who had come to his house as a guest. It would be odd to not offer him food and instead go to his place for dinner.
Bai Nian asked, "Does Ah Mu cook?"
Xu Mu replied awkwardly, "Um, not really. I can cook some simple dishes, but usually Nades does the cooking."
"Oh," Bai Nian nodded, "I can cook a little. I happened to prepare some ingredients this morning, and there's quite a lot. Let's have dinner together."
Before Xu Mu could respond, Ye Ye suddenly raised his hand in Bai Nian's arms and said, "Eat together... Let's eat together."
Bai Nian chuckled. Having just coaxed Ye Ye, he imitated his tone, "Come on." His gentle voice became even softer.
As they looked directly at each other, Bai Nian's eyes, a light gray-blue, were somewhat unclear through his glasses.
Suddenly, Xu Mu was reminded of that injured floppy-eared rabbit.
Its eyes were also a shade of gray-blue.
Very beautiful
Xu Mu’s Adam's apple moving lightly.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Nian," Xu Mu said softly.
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